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If the statement made by Peter Drucker, in 1992, that the age of transformation initiated by the computer will in a matter of decades create a rearranged society, is true we are nearing the mid transformation point at speeds beyond our imagination. From a distance the potential benefits of a bright new "e" world in "e" universities and "e" health care facilities are exciting at best and frightening at worst. It is true that taking the lead in a new order of things is most perilous.

It takes a big person to empower others, to return to learning rather than teaching, to admit ignorance, to ask seemingly foolish questions. Nursing (including nurse educators), in the past in times of rapid change, has drawn its wagons into a circle in an effort to hold onto its traditions. That will work no more. We faculty the most traditional of all,  have become those who perceive that we have done well under the old system and may not do well under a new one. 

Turf is about to dissolve, new systems will appear, there will be new potential for the future. As Charles DuBois said the individual must sometimes sacrifice what we are for what we could become. We must not become obsolete.

 We must enter the realm of health informatics with eyes open and with enough knowledge to make meaning of information so that nurses can use it to help patients remain well, live with infirmity in comfort, return to a state of wellness, or die with dignity. That is who we are and what we do best. We clinical practitioners and educators of nursing must be able to use the new technological tools with ease, speed, and intent toward these ends.